Eko India Financial Services : SimpliBank

Even though the mobile phone has far-flung reach, banks have not been able to

leverage it sufficiently to provide banking services for the masses. So there

are either Java based banking clients for smartphones, WAP based banking

websites, or SMS based transaction services. For the mass Indian population

sitting at the bottom of the pyramid, which is either semi-literate or

illiterate, these are either too complex to use or too difficult to understand,

or they're not supported on their low-cost handsets. Moreover, since the value

of transactions amongst the masses are extremely small, banks don't find them

financially viable. That's where SimpliBank promises to make its mark.

SimpliBank is an abridged core banking system, which provides the entire banking

solution in the cloud, and works on a universal interface that will even work on

ultra-low cost, pre-paid mobiles such as the Nokia 1200. It doesn't require GPRS,

WAP, EDGE, or any other technology to work. Rather, it can initiate transactions

simply by dialing numbers. Moreover, the user interface supports two-factor

authentication for transactions.

The impact according to Eko is immense-the company has 50,000 customers ever

since it started the service. Its customers are able to withdraw, deposit, and
do money remittances safely, instantly, and conveniently. The technology has

been used to minimize the transaction cost, making it profitable for financial

services companies and banks. The project took around a year to develop.